BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. – The former Body Camp Elementary School is being redeveloped, but there are mixed reviews over what it’s being turned into.
On Monday, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors voted to sell the former Body Camp Elementary School to Zitel, an internet service provider.
Dozens of people showed up to voice their opinions on the building and some still felt the frustrations following the vote.
Co-founder of the Bedford Community Coalition, Joy Powers, spoke with 10 News at the site following the vote.
“To go through that loss, and then for a decade to hear promises of YMCA’s, nursing homes and charter schools. To then be undercut and just be sold out to commercial buyer was just really devastating,” Powers said.
Zitel representatives at the meeting tried to reason with neighbors. Rodney Gray, Zitel’s COO, wants people to understand they are looking to work with the community and not against it.
“The communities down here need the businesses, the commercial properties, the jobs, the things that are going to generate that tax revenue for this district. So that revenue can stay in this district and more can be spent on this district,” Gray said.
Neighbors wanted to see the old school building turned into something more community-oriented.
“We were actually hoping to convert this into a library, a public green space, childcare facilities…there’s a lot of good options we were pursuing…in a self-sustaining model that wouldn’t burden the taxpayers,” Powers said.
There is already a similar project underway in Montvale, another jurisdiction within Bedford County.
The Bedford County Board of Supervisors has made it clear that they were not willing for this community to pursue alternative funding when they are letting other communities do that. Other communities which already have those same resources that this community does not,” Powers said.
Zitel officials says it plans to invest over $750,000 of their own funds to repair the water, plumbing, and heating systems, along with $24,000 to $30,000 a month just to operate in the winter months.
Officials say Zitel will continue to bring more jobs to the Bedford area.